Nuclear renaissance blooming in S.C.

By C. Grant Jackson
Senior Vice President/Community Development
Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

The 2nd annual Small Modular Reactor Conference held last month in Columbia clearly added to central South Carolina’s evolution as the center of the nuclear power renaissance.

Nearly 300 global nuclear power executives gathered for the meeting. Small modular reactors are defined as those with an output of less than 300 megawatts. They can be manufactured at a plant and shipped to a site fully constructed. They are expected to be the next generation of nuclear energy power.

Two announcements, one a week before the conference and one the day of, make Columbia and central South Carolina the focus for small modular reactors.

NuScale Power LLC of Portland, Ore., said on April 11 it would partner with NuHub, the region’s nuclear collaborative, to recruit the nation’s first small modular nuclear reactor models to South Carolina.

“One of the key initiatives of NuHub is to support the manufacturing and deployment of SMRs domestically to meet demand for clean energy nationally and abroad,” said Ted Speth, chair of NuHub’s SMR Committee and managing shareholder at Ogletree Deakins’ in Columbia. “NuHub was impressed with NuScale’s dedication to investing in the growth and prosperity of the Midstate of South Carolina.”

NuHub, an initiative of EngenuitySC, comprises public, private, higher education and workforce development stakeholders working to maximize economic and job opportunities for the nuclear industry in central South Carolina, and to make the region a global leader for nuclear innovation. NuHub is co-chaired by Steve Byrne, COO and executive vice president for generation and transmission at SCE&G, and Sonny White, president of Midlands Technical College. The website is www.NuHubSC.com.

Then the first morning of the SMR conference, Speth announced another partnership, this time between NuHub and SMR developer Holtec International, a diversified energy technology company headquartered in Florida.

Both partnerships will compete for one of two federal grants from the Department of Energy for small modular reactor development. The recently announced federal funding opportunity, totaling up to $452 million, will support engineering, design certification and licensing for up to two prototype SMR designs.

NuScale and Holtec propose locating their SMRs at the Savannah River Site in Aiken and both have indicated that manufacturing operations would be located in central South Carolina.

“We are pleased to partner with NuHub to help incubate the SMR technology in South Carolina,” said Pierre Oneid, president of Holtec’s SMR subsidiary. “The coalition of industry, academic and community leadership represented by NuHub and the strongly supportive nuclear culture in the Palmetto State presents an ideal opportunity for us to build our first SMR-160 at the Savannah River Site. With help from NuHub and the state we hope to establish a local manufacturing facility for building reactor components in South Carolina that replicates our existing fabrication capabilities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida.”

Michael McGough, NuScale’s vice president of business development, said, “We at NuScale are excited and enthusiastic at the tremendous opportunity that lies before NuHub and NuScale to develop a powerful economic growth engine with world-class excellence and worldwide reach. We believe our programs will generate superior economic returns to the state of South Carolina, particularly in the Midstate region. “

In addition to NuScale and Holtec, SRS has signed an agreement with SMR developer Hyperion Power Generation to build an advanced reactor on the site.

Westinghouse, also looking to build a prototype, had sought to partner with NuHub, but was unable to reach agreement. Westinghouse partnered with Ameren Missouri, a gas and electric utility. When it announced the deal, although the news was public, Westinghouse seemed the odd man out, not to be in the SMR business in South Carolina.

But the nuclear renaissance is not just about SMRs.

NuHub is also focusing efforts on making the region a global leader in nuclear training.  That message is clearly getting out. One of those who came by the NuHub booth at last month’s conference was John H. Levan, president and CEO of the United States – Vietnam Foundation. Prof. Levan was seeking information on Midlands Technical College’s nuclear education and training program.

In addition to having an outstanding  nuclear operator training program up and running, Midlands Tech is a partner in a $3.12 million National Science Foundation grant to create a Regional Center for Nuclear Education and Training, RCNET, linking seven Southeastern states.

Graduates of MTC’s nuclear operator program are being snapped up by utilities and are likely to be in higher demand as SCE&G builds and operates two new reactor units at the V.C. Summer  Nuclear Power Station in Jenkinsville.

In the next 15 years, $40 billion will be invested in nuclear power generation to be deployed within a 100 mile radius of Columbia. That’s a renaissance.

 

Midlands Tech program to help cluster

Published in the April 2, 2012 edition of the
Columbia Regional Business Report

By C. Grant Jackson
Senior Vice President/Community Development
Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

Midlands Technical College‘s announcement last month of a $5 million training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor was a win for Columbia’s insurance technology and services cluster.

The insurance technology and services cluster is a huge economic engine for the region. A study released last week by iTs|SC, the regional cluster organization, found that insurance technology and services has a $6.7 billion total annual economic impact in South Carolina. That represents 2.5% of the Gross State Product.

Most of that industry’s workers, about 15,000, are employed at firms in the Columbia cluster at an average salary of $62,000. The cluster’s total annual sales are $4.9 billion.

The study was conducted through Business in Motion, a joint project of the Navigating from Good to Great Foundation and the City of Columbia. The results were reviewed and estimates and data were validated by Joseph Von Nessen, research economist at USC’s Darla Moore School of Business.

The study, the first attempt to quantify the regional industry, delivered findings that bode well for continued growth of the industry. Of the companies surveyed:

• 70% plan to expand locally in the next 12-18 months
• 100% are expecting sales to grow over the next 12 months
• 55% said they expect to increase their workforce in the next 18 months and 45% said they would at least maintain current levels.

But amid the positive news, one big concern remains: workforce. Almost 50% of the companies indicated issues with recruiting and maintaining employees.

“Lack of access to skilled talent is creating both a short-term and a long-term challenge for continued growth,” the study concluded. The full study is available at www.its-sc.com.

Concern over workforce was one issue that brought Columbia’s insurance technology and services businesses to the table to begin forming a cluster in 2007 that would eventually call itself iTs|SC.

The businesses saw a need to widen and deepen the pool of available insurance technology talent. But grappling with an issue like workforce is not something businesses can do very effectively on their own; they need partners, like educators, who are in the workforce development business.

One of the hallmarks of cluster theory is that clusters don’t include just the businesses in a particular business space. California’s wine cluster for example isn’t just the growers and the vineyards and the wineries.

Likewise iTs|SC is not just companies like BlueCross BlueShield of S.C., Seibels Bruce Group, Colonial, TM Floyd and Duck Creek/Accenture. Clusters include ancillary groups like educational, research and trade organizations and in some cases even government agencies.

So when the cluster began talking about workforce, Midlands Tech, as well as USC, was already at the table.

When IT-oLogy was formed, originally the Consortium for Enterprise Systems Management, it took a seat at the table as well.

Each of those organizations is a key member of the cluster in helping deal with workforce issues.

When Midlands Tech had the opportunity to apply for the Growing Resources for Information Technology, or GRIT, program through the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, it already knew some of the direction it would need to take.

Cluster members had continued to hammer the need for new workers, especially in areas like Java programming, and Midlands Tech had been looking for an opportunity to help provide those workers.

Members of iTs|SC provided Midlands Tech information and helped shape the successful grant application.

Midlands Tech was one of only 43 awardees for the GRIT grant and the $5 million was the maximum amount awarded to any school.

The program is designed to build a training infrastructure for high-growth, high-demand information technology occupations – programmer analysts, computer network support specialists and network and data communication analysts – for unemployed veterans, minorities, women and others.

“Our regional partners in the insurance and health care industries continue to have difficulty finding qualified candidates to fill these important positions,” said Cathy Pitts, executive director of programs, MTC corporate and continuing education division, at the time of the grant award.

Helping train a wider and deeper pool of talent for the insurance technology and services cluster will help keep and grow the existing businesses in the cluster. It will also help the region draw more insurance technology and services companies.

C. Grant Jackson can be contacted at (803) 733-2513 or at gjackson@columbiachamber.com.

Chamber’s Issue Committee Recap

The Chamber’s Issues Committee met on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 with 42 Chamber members in attendance.

The topics discussed were as follows:

The “Bill Wylie Entrepreneurship Act”  or SC Angel Tax Credit:  The Committee discussed this issue and will further discuss at the March meeting to determine the Committee’s level of support.  Currently the bill is in Senate Finance, H.3779; it was passed by the House last year.

The False Claims Act, Public Fraud Legislation:  The Committee voted to not support the bill as currently drafted.  The Chamber Executive Committee voted to “oppose” the bill to confirm that  this issue does not support our business friendly agenda.  S1003 and S1018 are both in a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee. They have not been introduced in the House.

The SC Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act:  The Committee voted unanimously to support this bill when it is introduced.  The Chamber Executive Committee withheld approval pending a determination of the positions of the SC Chamber and building and commercial real estate associations. Ike McLeese informed Rep Smith of the Committee’s decision.

Ike McLeese reviewed the Base Realignment and Closure Report and highlighted local efforts to prepare for this round of review.

The next Chamber Issues Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8am, Palmetto Room at the Chamber.  Contact Susan Vaughan McPherson, 733-1148 for additional information.

Chamber, city care for existing firms

Published in the Feb. 6, 2012 edition of the
Columbia Regional Business Report

By C. Grant Jackson
Senior Vice President/Community Development
Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

On one of his very first business calls, John Mikula, senior vice president for existing business retention and expansion at the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, learned of a problem at Nucor Building Systems in Swansea. Then plant manager Al Behr told Mikula that he was having trouble hiring welders and CAD operators.

Mikula put Nucor together with MEBA, the Midlands Education and Business Alliance, and Midlands Technical College to create a program to fill the company’s labor pipeline.  MEBA would bring high school teachers to the plant to show them what manufacturing was really about. Nucor would send welders and CAD operators into high schools for a show and tell that would include students actually doing some welding. Midlands Tech would supply the programs to teach the skills.  Those skilled workers can make upwards of $80,000 a year.

Nucor now has an ongoing program to keep its pipeline full.

Taking care of existing businesses is critical to any community’s economic health. Multiple studies have shown that the majority of jobs in any community are created by existing businesses. A report compiled by the Lowe Foundation’s Institute for Exceptional Growth Companies found that existing businesses generated 71% more new jobs than startups between 1990 and 2008.

“Coordinating existing and future business growth requirements,” is one of the goals of the Navigating from Good to Great Foundation. Under the direction of the foundation, the Columbia chamber approached the City of Columbia in 2008 about collaborating on Business in Motion, an existing business retention and expansion program.

More than 300 businesses across the region have been interviewed using a standard questionnaire. The city paid for a database that is used to analyze results of those interviews. City economic development employee Ryan Coleman helped develop the program and handles the interviewing and data input and analysis along with Mikula. But note that businesses don’t have to be located within the city limits to be interviewed and have their answers entered into the database.  Kudos to the city.

“From the beginning we saw the value of a regional approach to the BR&E program, a vital part of our economic development strategy. The Chamber has proven to be a fantastic partner with its access to businesses throughout the community,” said Jim Gambrell, director of economic development for the city.

Coleman and Mikula have been able to uncover problems at individual businesses, such as the workforce issue at Nucor, and help find solutions. But the database analysis has led to problem-solving on a larger scale.  Reports based on data gathered in 2008 and in 2009 showed significant concern with business services, i.e. zoning, permitting, licensing, inspections, etc., in both Columbia and Richland County.

The result of those reports was to establish a Business Services Review Task Force, comprising three members each from the city of Columbia, Richland County and the chamber of commerce.

The task force, which is chaired by David Brandes of Genesis Consulting Group, hopes to release recommendations in a couple of months that will focus on improving customer service, overhauling some procedures and changing some regulations. Recommendations will be for both the city and county and will be aimed at making it easier to do business within each jurisdiction.

While continuing interviews with many businesses, Coleman and Mikula have taken on some targeted projects.

A Business in Motion analysis of the Columbia area’s insurance technology and services industry revealed a regional industry with 12,000 jobs at an average yearly salary of $62,000. The study was undertaken at the behest of iTs|SC Columbia’s insurance technology and services cluster to gather hard data on an industry segment that anecdotally we’ve always believed was quite impactful. But until the Business in Motion study, iTs|SC had no hard data to back up that claim.

Recently, Business in Motion has undertaken a study of the nuclear industry. Within 15 years $40 billion will be invested in nuclear power generation within 100 miles of Columbia. With SCANA’s construction of two reactors in Jenkinsville and the Westinghouse nuclear fuel production facility in Richland County, the region has a significant nuclear base.

The care and feeding of existing business is indeed a critical piece of our economic development puzzle. Solving real problems for businesses in our region means those businesses are much more likely to stay here and to grow here.

Clusters: a fancy word for shared interests

Published in the Jan. 9, 2012 edition of the
Columbia Regional Business Report

By C. Grant Jackson
Senior Vice President/Community Development
Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

Clusters as an economic development strategy came to South Carolina as an outgrowth of Harvard Professor Michael Porter’s work for the state in 2003.  Porter, the great cluster guru, describes clusters as “geographically proximate groups of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular field, linked by commonalities and complementarities.”

That can make folks’ eyes glaze over. Think in terms of companies in a common business, in a common location, with common problems and maybe you can understand clusters a little bit better.

Our statewide and regional clusters are nurtured by New Carolina, S.C.’s Council on Competitiveness. The work at the regional level in the Midlands is done by a broad coalition of organizations led by Neil McLean. And it really is about connecting the dots.

South Carolina and the Midlands are doing a world-class job of putting Porter’s cluster theory into practice. But you don’t need to take my word for that. McLean and George Fletcher, who leads New Carolina, attended a session at Harvard last month and heard it from Porter himself. Each year Porter brings together those schools from around the world that license his Microeconomics of Competitiveness course. South Carolina was invited to make a presentation to the group and Porter declared that South Carolina has one of the two best cluster initiatives in the world.

Midlands partners

The Midlands effort involves New Carolina, EngenuitySC, the USC-Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative, the Navigating from Good to Great Foundation, the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and a host of other organizations.

The Navigating from Good to Great Foundation has provided some funding for Midlands cluster initiatives over the last three years. One of the foundation’s first actions in 2008 was to grant 25% of my time as senior vice president for community development to cluster initiatives. I work closely with McLean’s team especially on the insurance technology and services and nuclear clusters.

The Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce adopted cluster development as part of its strategic plan. A cluster committee, chaired by former chamber chair Cathy Novinger, meets regularly.

The Midlands clusters are insurance technology and services, hydrogen and fuel cells, and nuclear energy. We are also the center for the statewide transportation, distribution and logistics cluster. And we continue to explore opportunities in other areas such as health sciences and the defense industry.

Efforts to make the Columbia region a leader in the nascent hydrogen and fuel cell industry began before Porter came to town.

USC, the city of Columbia, EngenuitySC and SCRA created the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative. The cluster has seen some success.

Trulite, a fuel cell company, moved to Columbia in early 2010. The company was the first tenant in the Business Accelerator on Midland Tech’s Enterprise Campus and is also a client of the SCRA Technology Ventures’ SC Launch program.

Lots of dots connected. A unit made by Trulite powered the decorations at the U.S. Department of Energy’s annual holiday party in Washington.

Insurance services and technology is one of our strongest clusters. About a dozen companies – including  BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and Colonial Life – came together to form iTs|SC: Columbia’s Insurance Technology and Services Cluster.  They have since been joined by others including AFLAC and Seibels Bruce.

Managed by McLean’s Midlands team, the competitors work to grow the regional industry by collaborating on common issues like workforce development. iTs|SC, in partnership with the city of Columbia and the chamber, will release the “Business in Motion Report: Insurance Technology and Services South Carolina” soon. The report quantifies the region’s assets and successes and recommends areas for growth.

The Business in Motion team is also studying another regional cluster: nuclear energy.  The regional nuclear collaborative NuHub was formed to capitalize on the nuclear renaissance.  More than $40 billion of capital investment in nuclear power generation is being deployed within a 100-mile radius of Columbia. NuHub has drawn leadership from SCE&G and Midlands Tech.

The group is focused on making the region a center for training for the nuclear industry as well as a center for Small Modular Reactor development and manufacturing. SMR’s are projected to be a multibillion dollar industry.

Significant win

An SMR conference brought to Columbia last year through the efforts of NuHub produced a significant win for the region. San Diego-based General Atomics donated $900,000 to USC to establish a center to develop and enhance nuclear energy.

Transportation, Distribution and Logistics is a statewide New Carolina cluster headquartered in the Midlands. The group recently launched the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Council with support from the S.C. Department of Transportation, S.C. Department of Commerce and the S.C. Ports Authority.

Deepal Eliatamby, president of Columbia’s Alliance Consulting Engineers, chairs the council. Midlands members also include the Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Southeastern Freight Lines. The Amazon distribution facility in Lexington County is a huge asset for the cluster.

That is only a brief look at our region’s clusters and I hope it whets your appetite for more. Later this year we’ll explore each of them in depth. And like so many of our efforts our successes are coming about largely by connecting the dots.

C. Grant Jackson is senior vice president/community development of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at (803) 733-2513 or at gjackson@columbiachamber.com

Chamber seeks alliances to build region’s future

Published in the Dec. 26, 2011 edition of the
Columbia Regional Business Report

By C. Grant Jackson
Senior Vice President/Community Development
Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce

 

A lot has changed over the past four years since I last wrote a regular newspaper column. For starters I’m not what you might consider a practicing journalist any more.

The journalism purists would say this is not a real column because I’m writing about the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the activities of its Navigating from Good to Great Foundation while an employee of the chamber and foundation. Ok, point granted – I’m not an employee of the Columbia Regional Business Report and I’m not being paid to write. And this column will provide the voice of the chamber.

Cards on the table: the idea for this column (and my return to some form of journalism) came out of a feeling that many in the business community and in the greater Columbia regional community don’t know what is being done, often quietly and behind the scenes, to connect the dots and move our region from good to great.

Attracting the creative class

We are making tremendous strides in everything from dealing with the homeless to regional cooperation to creating a place where bright, young, creative professionals want to live, work and play.

We pitched the idea to Bob Bouyea, this paper’s publisher, of my writing a once a month column to explain not only how we are connecting the dots, but also provide insight into what a connected region can mean . And along the way we’ll also provide a bit of praise to some of those who are making it happen. And Bob graciously agreed to give us a try.

But why now and why me?

The why now is easy to answer. We believe our Navigating from Good to Great Foundation has changed the community conversation as we approach year five of our first five years and prepare for the next five years. Business leaders, education leaders, politicians and community activists all have become part of the conversation that believes we can move the Columbia region from a good place to live to a great place to live. People are talking a whole lot more about what is already great in Columbia and talking less about Charleston and Greenville. And people from Greenville and Charleston are talking a whole lot more about Columbia.

We have taken on the role of community convener to bring those disparate elements together to sit at the table and seek solutions as one rather than simply finger-pointing. If something is a problem for our community it is not your problem, it is not my problem, it is not their problem. It is our problem, and we need to find solutions collectively.

We do not need two or three different groups working on issues independently. We need to come together collaboratively, pool our resources, find a solution and implement. It is amazing what we can accomplish collectively when we don’t care who gets the credit.  But collaboration is hard work.

The business community, aided by a broad swath of the community, is doing some of that hard work and helping connect the dots. A few examples where we have seen success, some of it just beginning to happen, include the opening of Transitions, the region’s only comprehensive service center for the homeless; the work of a joint Richland County-City of Columbia task force to reform business services such as licensing and permitting; the effort to reform the operations of the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA) and keep public transit rolling while seeking a solution to permanent funding for transportation.

Regional cooperation

A major accomplishment has been the creation of the MIDSTATE Chambers Coalition. Led by Lexington Mayor and Chamber of Commerce President Randy Halfacre, the coalition, a broader region encompassing 11 counties, is looking to rival the Upstate and Lowcountry as influencers of public policy.

We’ll explore how the dots are being connected on these and many more issues over the coming months.

As for why me? Well, I suppose I hope that at least a few former readers from my time as business columnist for another newspaper will remember me and be curious enough to read.

We do hope we’ll have something to say, and we do hope you’ll want to read. We also hope that if you disagree or have a better idea about something, you’ll let us hear from you.

Moving the Columbia region from good to great requires connecting the dots. And connecting the dots isn’t the province of any one person or group of people or organization. It takes all of use working together.

C. Grant Jackson can be reached at (803) 733-2513 or at gjackson@columbiachamber.com

Lake Carolina’s Wine & Food Festival is Here!

Taste the food, drink the wine and feel the music at this year’s Wine & Food Festival!

Savor the flavors of fine wine and gourmet cuisine at Lake Carolina’s 9^th Annual Wine & Food Festival on Saturday, October 22, from 1pm – 5pm.  Join award winning chefs, local restaurants, and wine vendors in a beautiful outdoor setting while sampling tasty bites and sipping fine wines.  Over 15 wineries, distributors, food vendors and restaurants will participate and several hundred are expected to attend and delight in the offerings.   Food demonstrations will take place during the day featuring culinary experts from Columbia.  Come see what’s cooking.  Not only will they feature exceptional wines and delicious food, but craft beer vendors will also be pouring their seasonal brews.

Experience the culinary culture of the South.  Fresh ingredients, local flavor, and harmonizing finishes in a picturesque park-like setting.

Lake Carolina is proud to contribute all proceeds from the 2011 Wine & Food Festival to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Columbia, SC.  The Ronald McDonald House aids sick children by providing a comfortable “home away from home” where families can rest, enjoy home-cooked meals, meet other families in similar situations and be near their child, regardless of their ability to pay.

Attendees of Lake Carolina’s Wine & Food Festival will also have the opportunity to bid on special items at the Silent Auction including entertainment tickets, travel destinations, fine art and an assortment of other items.

Tickets are on sale now at www.LakeCarolinaWineandFood.com.  An advance ticket purchase of $25 will get you through the gate and includes a commemorative wine glass, wine tastings and live entertainment by the Great Society Band.  Bring cash for food sampling, beer tasting and other quality goods.  Held outside on the Village Green at Lake Carolina, this event brings in some of the area’s best wineries and Columbia’s favorite cuisine and award-winning chefs.  Festival details and tickets are available on www.LakeCarolinaWineandFood.com.

Lovers of wine, food and beer welcome!

The Details:  $25 per ticket, must be 21yrs. of age or older.  Includes parking, event entrance, a commemorative wine glass and wine tastings.

The Where:  Lake Carolina Village Green, 100 Lake Carolina Boulevard, Columbia, SC 29229

The When:  Saturday, October 22, 2011 1pm – 5pm

The How:  Buy Tickets at www.LakeCarolinaWineandFood.com or at the Lake Carolina Sales Center

Guest Blogger
Lake Carolina

Carolina Technology Conference – Oct. 18

The Carolina Technology Conference, taking place on October 18, 2011, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in downtown Columbia, will bring industry leaders from some of the most well-known technology companies, including EMC, Microsoft, Google, Citrix, VMWare and others to the conference. The Carolina Technology Conference will offer training, hands-on labs, security sessions and exciting announcements from major technology companies.

IT-oLogy, a non profit collaboration of companies and academic institutions, is partnering with the Carolina Technology Conference through the IT-oLogy Career Corner, an area in the Expo Hall geared toward students, underemployed and unemployed who are searching for ways to increase their value in this competitive and dynamic field. IT-oLogy is also whipping up a recipe for success with an education track aimed at professionals looking to enhance their skills.

“When IT professionals come together in a conference like this and share knowledge, especially with future talent, every company represented benefits from the potential new ideas,” says Lonnie Emard, IT-oLogy Executive Director.

The Carolina Technology Conference started as a joint venture between several local user groups, and has expanded over the years to include many different partners, industries and tracks. Early registration runs through October 7, 2011 and is only $7. Registration includes breakfast, lunch, door prizes and full admission to the Expo Hall and Career Corner. A portion of all ticket proceeds will be donated to local charities. STUDENTS – register for free by October 13!

“The Carolina Technology Conference is a not-to-be-missed event, and we look forward to participating again this year with much anticipation,” says eGroup’s Tal Lassiter. “Participants can expect all the bells and whistles of a conference that they would normally spend thousands of dollars attending.”

For more information or to register, please visit www.carolinatechnologyconference.com.

Guest Blog by
IT-oLogy

Win $4000 with 3 Steps at Ignite! 2011

Ready to start something big in Columbia?

If so, EngenuitySC has gathered up some investors pay you up to $4000 to make it happen. 500 investors to be exact. Send in your 2 minute video telling us your idea, and we’ll put you on-stage in front of our 500 audience members at Ignite! 2011 to pitch your idea.

They vote. You win. And EngenuitySC cuts you a check for $1000-4000 to go out and make your idea happen.

It may be the easiest $4000 you ever make in your life.

Ready to start up your idea? It’s so freaking easy it do, it should be criminal.  If you have an idea that will start the next big wave in Columbia just do the following:

1. Submit a summary of your idea (about 250 words or so).
2. Tell us how your idea will start something new, exciting, innovative, or just plain awesome.
3. Record a 2 minute video explaining your idea and submit a link at www.engenuitysc.com/ignite.
4. If selected as a semi-finalist, you’ll present to a panel of judges.
5. If you make the cut, you’ll be invited as a finalist to present live at the conference. Bring your entourage. Wild cheering encouraged.

Is anyone even going to see this?

YES. By submitting, you’ll get your idea out there for people to connect into. Our panel for semi-finalists features the top names in our community making everyday ideas happen. Even if you don’t win, you got a chance to pitch your idea to someone who can make it happen regardless.

If you make it to our finals, know that Ignite! regularly brings in the community’s top decision-makers, from the mayor of Columbia and the president of USC down to CEO’s and top entrepreneurs.

By becoming a finalist, you are guaranteed to get your idea in front of 500 of the most influential and passionate people in our community…who knows who you might fire up to get involved? Don’t believe us? We have the video to prove who we brought in (President Pastides of USC and Mayor Benjamin of the City of Columbia to start with).

If you win, you may just be crowned the smartest person in Columbia! Oh right, you’ll receive cold hard cash from $1,000 – $4,000 to kick-start your new venture.

If you’ve read this far, then consider yourself primed and ready. Get that camcorder, webcam, flipcam, iPhone, iPad 2 (Do you really need $4000 if you have one of those?), and make it happen, cap’n. We want to you to prove Columbia has the talent, innovation, and ideas to build up the next wave in Columbia.

We’ve done our part; now it’s time to do yours.

Blog post by

EngenuitySC